Sustainability has shifted fundamentally. Twenty years ago, climate change was something we spoke about in the future tense. Now, it dominates our present.
Recent events have delivered stark reminders that climate change is no longer a future concern – it’s here, now. Record-breaking heatwaves swept across South Asia and the southern United States, with parts of India experiencing temperatures above 50°C, leading to widespread heat-related illness and power outages.
In Dubai, unprecedented rainfall in April 2024 caused major urban flooding, grounding flights and bringing the city to a standstill.
Wildfires raged across Canada and southern Europe earlier than usual, with January 2025 bringing devastating wildfires to Los Angeles that destroyed entire communities. Meanwhile, Antarctic Sea ice reached its lowest recorded levels, a worrying signal of destabilising planetary systems.
These events aren’t isolated – they’re compounding, interconnected, and a direct result of a rapidly warming world. Climate represents just one part of the broader sustainability challenge that also includes biodiversity loss, systemic inequality, and modern slavery.
Organisations across every sector recognise that sustainability is no longer a fringe concern but central to strategy. However, achieving ambitious goals on climate, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), and social impact doesn’t happen through strategy documents alone. It happens through people. This is why the role of HR and Learning & Development (L&D) has never been more important.
Performance frameworks, bonus structures, and incentives need to support, not penalise, people for doing the right thing.
Equipping people to lead change
Perhaps the most important role HR plays in driving these goals isn’t just building technical knowledge of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and DEIB but helping develop the knowledge, skills, and mindsets needed – the overall capabilities across the organisation.
Research at Hult shows that leading in today’s ecosystem demands something new. It’s not just about leading teams within your organisation – it’s about leading change through partnership with suppliers, customers, regulators, even competitors. This has profound implications for how you approach leadership development in functions like finance, procurement, sales, and operations.
It also reshapes what you should look for in recruitment, selection, and succession planning. Are you hiring for technical performance alone, or are you selecting for values, systems thinking, and stakeholder engagement?
Despite nearly universal agreement that sustainability is mission-critical, a significant gap remains. A recent study by Russell Reynolds Associates and the UN Global Compact found that 92% of business leaders believe sustainability is key to business success, yet only 4% of C-suite role specifications mention it explicitly. How might this disconnect be affecting your organisation’s ability to attract and develop the right talent?
Aligning rewards with what really matters
Another core role for HR is ensuring that performance and reward systems align with sustainability goals. Too often, we see a disconnect: senior leaders complete training and agree on what they should be doing, but then admit that following through ‘might cost them their bonus.’
This contradiction undermines the credibility of the organisation’s commitment. If achieving ESG and DEIB goals forms part of the core strategy, then it needs reflecting in how success is measured and rewarded. Performance frameworks, bonus structures, and incentives need to support, not penalise, people for doing the right thing.
HR can also contribute through employee benefits that model sustainable behaviour: electric company vehicles, car-sharing schemes, cycle-to-work programmes, low-carbon commuting support. These may seem minor individually, but together they help build a culture that supports sustainable choices.
The role of organisational development
Cultural transformation doesn’t happen by accident. One of the most powerful levers HR possesses lies in Organisational Development (OD). This means building internal networks of sustainability champions, facilitating innovation challenges that spark creative solutions, and designing recognition systems that celebrate social and environmental achievements.
Beyond programmes and campaigns, OD also means ensuring that the organisation’s values and behaviours truly reflect the sustainability commitments being made externally. It requires people with strong influencing and communication skills to bring diverse groups along the journey.
Consider this: what would change in your organisation if sustainability champions were as visible and supported as your top sales performers?
As more organisations put ESG and DEIB at the heart of their strategies, it’s time to think just as boldly about how your people systems support those aims.
Learning strategies for a new kind of leadership
What does all this mean for L&D? It means moving beyond general leadership development into context-specific learning. Today’s leaders navigate complexity, ambiguity, and interdependence across systems. They need support not just on ‘how to lead,’ but how to lead in a context where climate, equity, and long-term social value matter.
This also requires rethinking learning strategies. One-off workshops aren’t enough. You need ongoing, experiential learning, peer learning, mentoring, and spaces where leaders can reflect, challenge assumptions, and practise systems thinking.
Perhaps most critically, you need to be intentional about developing these mindsets at all levels, from emerging talent to the executive team.
The opportunity ahead
We are living through one of the most urgent and complex moments in human history, but with that comes a profound opportunity. As more organisations put ESG and DEIB at the heart of their strategies, it’s time to think just as boldly about how your people systems support those aims.
Matt GitshamIf sustainability is to be more than just a slide deck, HR must be empowered to drive it – not just through policies and frameworks, but through culture, capability, and leadership.
The future of sustainability runs straight through the heart of HR. How will you shape that future?
